Ageless
by Sui Megami
Summary: The end of one life signals the beginning of another. It's time for Danny to come to terms with such a concept. Oneshot DxS


Bijin: Well... don't know why I'm submitting it, but I found it in my files of stories and randomly decided to finish it. One-shot, so it's not like I'm starting another story here. Though this one is somewhat open-ended and could lead to other stories. XD

Anyway... suddenly thought of this idea. Wrote this... so tell me what you think.

I don't own Danny Phantom. (So nyeh)

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Amity Park Hospital.

The building looked just as it had all those years ago, when he had been in highschool. Much like himself, the building stood. How many times had he come here now? Wandering those sterile halls as monitors counted away the lives of those around him. This would most likely be his last visit to this place. For he had no one left after her.

Slowly he climbed up the front steps and into the double doors, heading up to the desk with a bleak expression.

"Hello, Sir. May I help you?"

He looked up, nodding. "I'm looking for Sam Manson. What room is she in?"

The woman fiddled with the computer at her side for a moment before looking up at the young man. "Room 34. It's right down this hallway, up the stairs and the second door to your right."

He gave the woman a nod and headed off to his destination. His head hung low, and his hands came into his own view. Calloused, strong, young hands... not wrinkled like those around him. His hair remained black and was a bit longer than it had once been, coming down to wide shoulders. A muscled chest was hidden beneath a baggy black shirt and jens, as always, adorned his legs. Hands were shoved into the pockets of said jeans, as he wished not to dwell on his condition any more than he had to. Though the reality of his situation, and Sam's, was to hit him full in the face when he entered that room, he was certain.

He climbed the steps with guilt. As if it were not right he was having such an easy time of it. Stairs had pained his friends so, and here he was, hopping up their small rises with no trouble at all. He continued down the hall and knocked on the door.

"Sam?" She called meekly. "It's me... Danny." There was no response, and he entered anyway. He gave a smile at the woman on the bed. A smile had spread across a face laden with wrinkles and weary eyes sparkled.

"You're a sight for sore eyes, Danny." She whispered. "Or do you go by Daniel these days, Mr. Part-Time Engineer?"

"I'm forever Danny to you, Sam." He chukled weakly and pulled a folding chair to her bedside. "How are you feeling?" Sam gave him a look. "Sorry..." He muttered, looking away and smiling. "Standard question."

She gave a few weak laughs before shrugging. "Great, considering I'm dying."

"Are you in pain?"

Sam shook her head. "No... I'm quite comfortable is all. It's just this old heart is tired of beating."

Danny looked down. "I'm glad... I'm glad you're comfortable."

Sam chuckled. "You always thought of me first, didn't you?"

"Just like you did for me." Danny looked up again. "Keeping me on my feet all these years. Without you, I don't know where I'd be."

"Considering how long you've helped me and stuck by me, giving you financial aide while you spent your time protecting us from ghosts was the least I could do. You were protecting us free of charge. I figured I should do something to pay you back."

"Still... it was a lot to give me... over so many years..."

"So many years..." Sam repeated. "And yet... you haven't aged a day since your twenty-fifth birthday party..."

Danny's face fell. "Well... I suppose everyone's guessed by now. About the whole half-ghost thing. Even Dash figured it out. He wasn't all that surprised really." He chuckled slightly and sniffled.

"You really miss him, don't you?" Sam suggested, giving a smile and putting a hand on his face.

"Dash and I were such good friends after highschool... same with Tucker."

"You were a good friend to all of us, Danny." Sam assured him. "Especially to Tucker and I."

Danny fell silent for a long time at the mention of Tucker's name and cleared his throat before saying, "I went to his funeral last week. It was really nice. His wife and son spoke. I... wish I could've spoken... there was so much to say... but half the time I feel like it's too late. I waited too long... because for me... time only moves in my surroundings."

"There are always regrets for those left behind. But for those who leave... the only question is... did they know you loved them?"

"Well... of course."

"Then there's nothing to worry about." Sam chuckled. "I swear... you are still in highschool, Danny."

"Maybe I am. Time hasn't moved for me. I can't tell if I'm being left behind by time or if I'm on the sidelines watching it pass."

Sam either couldn't or simply refused to answer him. There was an awkward pause as Sam struggled to keep her breathing under control. Danny glanced to Sam several times, seeing the heavy bags under large eyes, black hair turned a pleasant chade of silver, and body thinning down to a small frame.

"Danny... what's wrong? You haven't looked this dreary since Jazz died..." Sam noted weakly, pausing afterward to take a deep breath.

Danny remained silent for a long time before he sighed and spoke. "You're all that's left, Sam... after you're gone... who else do I have? I've kept myself from outside contacts for so long to keep people safe... but there was always you... or Tucker... or Jazz... and even mom and dad were there toward the end, once they found out. But you were there more than anyone else... helping me muddle through my human life. But now... who else do I have? My life is over... and yet it'll continue for who knows how long?"

"You're life isn't over, Danny... as far as I'm concerned, it's just beginning. You've lived a full life and now it's time to start a new one... meet new people... find others to confide in."

"And then wait and watch them die like I have been for the past several years with all of you." Danny leaned foreward and pressed his face to his hands. "Paulina... Dash... Quan... Tucker... Mom... Dad... Jazz... and now you. I can't take this losing people thing. There's no telling how long I'll live... I may never die. I don't want to stay here... I want to die with you. Or... at least do something so you can stay with me." He chuckled weakly. "Too bad my parents' ghost portal broke down and blew up a few years ago... or I'd throw you in it and turn it on."

Sam laughed weakly. "Yes, but then you'd be stuck with an old woman like me for forever."

"Better than not having you at all, Sam. All I've got now is Vlad."

"Maybe you could think of him as a fatherly figure... he is the only one you have left that can understand you."

"He wishes... I avoid Wisconsin like the plague." Danny chuckled.

"I suppose I can imagine, that. Vlad has leveled out over the years, but he's still a first-class Fruit loop." Sam admitted. Danny smiled, but cast blue eyes to the ground. Sam smiled and an aged hand was placed gingerly over a young one. "Something else is on your mind, though, isn't it?" Danny looked up at her, taking her hand in his own and holding it to his chest. She smiled. "Thinking of me, eh? You do that too much."

Danny closed his eyes, smiling at the earthy scent her hands gave off. A handcream that she used often to keep them moist and he had grown rather fond of the smell. It suited her. "It's just... I wish I had... You were alone all these years..."

"Much like yourself. But in that sense, were we not together?" A frown creased her forehead and her lips. "Daniel... you aren't regretting that again, are you? We talked about this years ago when my cancer was diagnosed. You need to stop blaming yourself."

Danny gently set her hand down on the bed and stood, wandering away slightly before speaking. "I cant! If I had asked you to marry me instead of just telling you I wanted to, maybe... I don't know... I'm just so selfish. I... It killed me to tell you I couldn't get married. And at the time, I was so sure it was the right decision. But... that's only for me. What about you? I didn't think for once that it could've caused you suffering as well... and I just..." He sighed and his head was tapped against the wall near the door.

"Daniel... come over here right now..." She growled. Though he was indeed of the same age as she, his appearance drove her to speak to him often as she would speak to a young man. Danny obeyed, wandering back over to sit by her bedside. This time, she grabbed his hand and pulled it into her lap with a force he didn't think she could muster in her current state. "Now you listen to me, kid... You are the most selfless person I have ever met. You gave up your normal life to fight ghosts and protect us. You gave up love for this calling. You gave up everything, and you beat yourself up because you didn't satisfy my 'needs'?" She scoffed. "You may be 97 years old, Daniel, but you have a lot to learn." She smiled now. "I never was upset with you for your decision. I admired you for it." She looked up at the ceiling. "Sure, I would've loved to have gotten married and such, but... doing that would put so much stress on you. I know it would. Having a family would only make you worry." She frowned now. "I wish there had been an option that would've made you happy, but... I suppose something so conveniant didn't exist." She smiled. "But you have become a stronger person than even you, yourself, realize. And not marrying me helped you get there. You gave up a job at NASA to fight Ghosts. You gave up a full-time job to fight Ghosts. You gave me up to fight Ghosts. And because of that, you've become such an incredible person."

Danny remained silent, and Sam continued a bit more. "The reason I never got married was not because I was waiting for you. I knew that you were firm in your decision... and that you weren't going to come for me. But you have to understand Danny... you were the only one for me." Danny met her eyes finally, water gathering in their corners. "And if I couldn't be with you... I was content to simply support you in any way I could." She smiled.

Her breathing grew shallow as the speech caused her to lose her breath. Danny simply looked down. "Your praise is a bit much to be handled by your body." He smiled, squeezing her hand back. "Thank you, Sam." His gaze drew away, as if her eyes were going to convincing him otherwise of his decision. "But even so... with all the things I have learned... and how strong I have become... I can't stop losing you. I've learned all I want to as a human." Sam's eyes grew slightly wider. "I don't want to know how much pain the human heart can tolerate before it simply stops beating. And I know that if I keep meeting people, though I don't think I'll ever love someone like you again... if I keep meeting people... knowing them... caring for them... and losing them... my human heart will eventually just give out. And while I think death would be bliss for me... I am too much of a coward to go through that." He looked up at her again, this time with tears trailing down a pale face. "So I have decided to attempt to live out the rest of my life as a ghost."

He reached into his pocket and produced a small device, laughing faintly as he examined it. "Remember Johnny 13 and his Unlucky Shadow?" Sma merely glanced at the device, wanting to speak, but finding herself unable to. "He had a prototype for this device on his bike... portable ghost portals." He looked up at her pallorless face again. "I'll live in the ghost zone. And I'll come here to protect it. But..." He put his head in his hands. "But I won't remain as a human. Without you here... without all of you here... I feel as if perhaps... when I entered that malfunctioning ghost portal... I feel as if it really did kill off my human side. Because I don't want to be human anymore."

Sam's eyes produced a few meager tears of their own, and her hand gripped his tightly. Danny's teeth gritted as his eyes wandered over her tense body. His eyes wandered over the monitors and water cascaded down his face.

An alarm sounded.

Danny stood from his chair, leaned over her shivering body, and pressed his lips to her forehead.

"I love you."

There were two voices in that uttering, and once it was finished, Danny turned away and made his way through the flood of nurses that rushed into the room, futiley attempting to coax a response from still vitals.

Danny walked back as one condemned. As far as he was concerned... he was dying here... along with her. His lifeless blue eyes remained transfixed upon the white tile as he walked down the hall, decended the stairs, made his way through the lobby, and finally emerged outside. His feet slowly took each of the steps up, making his way to his car. He fished his keys out of his pocket, but dropped the immediately onto the grass he walked on. His knees followed the clink they made, hitting the gound, and his arms falling to his sides. His face was turned toward the heavens, his mouth opening to allow a long-needed wail of pain, anguish, rage, and grief to echo around him.

Danny Fenton had taken his own life.

And Danny Phantom's life was now beginning.

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Bijin: Hope you liked it. A bit more emotionally charged than I usually write, but this was something that hit me one day... you know... if Danny is now part ghost... wouldn't his ghost half keep him immortal? Though I wouldn't be surprised if someone had already done this, but whatever. Hope you guys liked it and I'll see you later! Reviews please!


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